This workshop is intended to assist students who are preparing for the written portion of the English 30 Diploma exam. Students will learn to decode essay prompts and utilize effective essay formatting. Applicants need to have advanced writing experience.
We cover the two essay types of the written portion of the exam: the Critical/Analytical Response to Literature and the Personal Response. This 6-week program covers each of the 7 scoring categories of the exam to help students achieve the highest possible mark. Students meet for up to 90 minutes, twice a week, with guided writing practice and feedback. Marks for essays and mock-exam in this workshop may be used toward the ELA course challenge mark.
Workshop acceptance based upon application.
What happens after I apply for: Essay Skills: Write Your Best English 30 Diploma Exam?
Based entirely upon the application essay that you submit, your level of “readiness” will be determined:
- If your essay contains the depth and level of thought necessary for the style of literary analysis, but is missing the length or structure required (or vice versa), you are ready for the Essay Skills workshop. You will be notified of this, and will then receive a welcome email approximately one week before the workshop’s start date containing everything you need for the first class (including a reading assignment). If you have not received the welcome email one week prior to the start date, please email Kathy.
- If your essay is missing both the depth or level of thought AND the length or structure required for the diploma style essay, you are not yet ready to join the workshop. You will be notified of your options that will prepare you for the workshop you applied for, or one at a future date. It may mean you first need some help learning what the diploma requirements are and/or possibly some more practice with that style of writing. If it has been more than 10 days and you have not been contacted, please email Kathy.
This 6-week workshop moves along very quickly, containing lessons to cover all 7 categories of the government rubrics for two assignments. Students must demonstrate readiness in order to succeed, both in the workshop, and on the diploma exam.
Note: The workshop is for WISDOM students challenging English 30, so these students are given priority for acceptance to the workshop. Students enrolled outside of The Gilbertine Institute may be accepted at the non-subsidized rate of $450.
Book tutoring
- Initial Consultation hour for WISDOM students is subsidized by WISDOM, and thus free to families.
- Tutoring hours: $65 per hour after Initial Consultation. Option for group tutorials to reduce cost.
- Pay via home education funding or pay CRAMapple Ventures directly.
Mediated Learning Program Manager
Thérèse McDonald: therese@wisdomhomeschooling.com
Mediated Learning Advisor
Conference Details Register Now Presentors Exhibitors Resources Schedule
Friday Morning
Ignite Your Potential
Facilitator Panel
Friday Afternoon
Pique Interest
Entrepreneurship – Jana Boyko
Post Secondary – Joshua Peachment
Trades – Joe Laurence
Mediating High School – Therese McDonald
AB Diploma Credits
Entering the Workforce
Planning HS Without Credits
Keynote: Financial Journey
Friday Evening
Cardus Research – Catharine Kavanagh
Saturday Morning
Keynote: Finding a Career to Be Excited About
One Minute Pitches
Saturday Afternoon
Panel Discussion
Keynote: Don't Forget to Be Interesting
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Ready to enroll? Sign up here.
Find planning resources here.
And don't forget to complete and submit your EFT application for direct deposit reimbursement of home education funding.
More resources below!
General Terms & Conditions:
Registration
Registrations are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. If classes are full, parents may register their child to be placed on the waiting list. This does not guarantee placement in the course, but if an opening arises, the waiting list registrants will be contacted in order of registration. The Socratic Dialogue Online Program is available for students who are enrolled with WISDOM. However, once Albertan WISDOM students have had first opportunity to register in the courses, WISDOM opens registrations up to non-WISDOM, out-of-Province students. Non-WISDOM in-Province students are not eligible to register for online classes. If a family leaves WISDOM mid-year, they are also by default removing themselves from any online class(es).
Payment
Payment for all online courses is as follows:
Fees taken from funding: The charge will be applied automatically to your funding account before the third week of the course begins. *Exception: Where families have not submitted their Education Program Plan(s) by the deadline of August 31, funding will not be applied. In this situation, parents must make other payment arrangements.
Credit Card: Due immediately upon registration. A 4% service fee applies to all credit card charges.
E-transfer or Cheque: Due prior to course commencement. The Finance Team will send you an invoice and instructions for payment.
Cancellation/Refund Policy
Students have the option to try up to 2 weeks of official classes and cancel at no penalty. All paid funds will be returned. After that point, students who cancel forfeit the course fee.
If a student misses 5 or more classes/term, then he or she will not be regarded as having taken the course. No evaluation will be submitted to the parent by the tutor.
Course content is intended to be engaged in by the student in a live format rather than on-demand. Portions of a course may not be taken separately from the whole (eg: In a writing course, writing assignments cannot continue to be submitted for marking if a student is unable to attend classes).
If a student must miss a class or a writing tutorial, they or their parent must communicate this to the tutor in advance of the scheduled class or tutorial. Except in emergency situations, if a student misses their scheduled writing tutorial, there will not be a make-up tutorial and the student has forfeited that tutorial. If the tutor misses the scheduled tutorial due to illness or technical difficulties, the tutor will reschedule that tutorial with the affected students.
Writing Course Completion Requirements
A course completion will be granted to the student at the discretion of the tutor, primarily based on the following:
- Assignments completed and returned on time.
- Course participation, including punctuality, effort, communication with the tutor, etc.
Students must be recognized as having completed a course for it to qualify as a prerequisite to other WISDOM writing courses.
Certificate of Completion
WISDOM provides eligible students of the online classes with a certificate of completion upon request. Eligibility is based upon attendance record: no more than 3 absences per course.
Event Cancellation
WISDOM reserves the right to cancel any course or workshop because of low registration or situations beyond WISDOM's control. If a course must be canceled, registrants will be notified and offered the option to switch to a different course or receive a full refund.
Tutors or workshop presenters
WISDOM reserves the right to substitute tutors or presenters in the unlikely event that the tutors or workshop presenters listed cannot conduct the program. Substitution of a tutor or a presenter is not a cause for refund.
Privacy of Registrants
In signing up for a WISDOM Socratic Dialogue Online Program course, WISDOM requires a certain amount of personal data. Your privacy is very important to us. WISDOM’s Privacy Policy (through The Gilbertine Institute Independent School Association) complies with applicable Canadian and Alberta legislation with respect to the collection and protection of personal and private information. WISDOM also strives to protect the privacy of those attending and sharing in our classes and workshops. Therefore, to be clear, WISDOM does not grant permission for electronic copies of any sessions (classes or workshops) to be made by a student or parent, for any reason, nor does WISDOM authorize any form of copying and sharing of class or workshop sessions without the express written permission from the WISDOM office authorized personnel. For the purpose of aiding parents and students, online courses may be recorded by WISDOM and shared with the class participants. This enables a student to occasionally miss a class and still stay up to date with the course.
If you are interested in learning more about how your personal data is used, please contact WISDOM.
Copyright
By registering for the WISDOM Socratic Dialogue Online Program, you are confirming your understanding that the material and information being used and presented is protected by various copyright and intellectual property laws. You acknowledge that:
- You will not copy, reproduce, publish, disassemble, decompile, reverse engineer, download, post, broadcast, transmit, make available to the public, or otherwise use WISDOM content in any way except for your own personal, non-commercial use. You also agree not to adapt, alter or create a derivative work from any WISDOM content except for your own personal, non-commercial use. Any other use of WISDOM content requires the prior written permission of WISDOM.
Welcome to the WISDOM Alumni Association!
Home educated students (and their parents) have been graduating from the WISDOM community since 1995, and it's time to start to get all of us together.
If you are a graduated WISDOM student or 'graduated' WISDOM parent who has completed your years of home education with WISDOM, we invite you to join our alumni association.
Request to join our mailing list for upcoming information on the official association, potential volunteer positions, a proposed alumni newsletter, and most excitingly, future alumni events.
Purpose of the WISDOM Alumni Association
- Honour – WISDOM exists because you home schooled
- Share the benefits of home schooling
- attract new home schoolers
- encourage parents in the trenches by seeing the potential for their children
- encourage high school students to stay the course at home
- convince government, industry, media, via examples of life
- Peer support for each other
- reflect on your home schooling journey
- re-acquaint with home schoolers you knew
- share common experiences from your era
- support like-minded people during difficulties
History Plus is available at a great discount for WISDOM Families. Please contact the office for more information.
IXL is personalized learning with a comprehensive curriculum for junior kindergarten to grade 12 in Math and English. Find out more at ca.ixl.com. WISDOM's discounted rate is $20 per license per year, renewing September 1. Purchase your license in the WISDOM web shop.
Learn basic coding concepts, explore infinite worlds and build everything from the simplest of homes to the grandest of castles. Learn more at education.minecraft.net. WISDOM's discounted price is $10 per child per year, renewing September 1. Purchase your license in the WISDOM web shop.
Resources
Alberta Schools Athletic Association (ASAA) is the governing body that oversees amateur athletics in high schools for the province of Alberta. Through ASAA, WISDOM high school students may be eligible to join local high school sports teams or compete in track and field and wrestling, etc. Email Jennifer to find out more.
Facebook – WISDOM has a number of private Facebook groups for our families. (When you click join to any of these pages, please answer the verification questions.) Email terry@wisdomhomeschooling. com for more information.
- WISDOM Home Schooling - main group with the most members and discussion.
- WISDOM Home Schooling – High School & Beyond - Home schooling through high school support and inspiration
- WISDOM Support Group: Learning Challenges - A place to ask questions, find solutions, and to network with other parents of neuro-diverse learners.
- WISDOM Home Schooling Buy/Sell/Swap - This is a page where parents can sell, buy or swap new or used curriculum
LearnAlberta.ca is an Alberta Education resource which is available to WISDOM families. Various education and teaching resources are available on this website. Email the Office to get access.
Microsoft 365 (formerly called Microsoft Office) – Collaborate for free with online versions of Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and Excel. Save documents, spreadsheets, and presentations online. The WISDOM price? FREE. Email Jennifer to sign up.
Pen Pal Club – To join the Club, please have your child send a short letter of introduction (like those posted in the WISDOM Family Magazine) to the WISDOM Office, along with a note giving parental permission. Email Janice or mail WISDOM a letter. Once WISDOM has parental permission, your letter will be printed in the next WISDOM magazine. Any WISDOM student that wants to write your child will mail the initial letter to the WISDOM Office and the Office will mail the letter to your child. Once your child receives your letter, then the Pen Pal Exchange is complete and both students can mail letters back and forth as desired.
Prayer List – The WISDOM Office prays for its families every weekday around 3:00 pm. If you have a prayer request for your family or homeschool, please email Terry.
Scholastic Letters may be requested by parents who wish to buy directly from the Scholastic.com book flyers. Contact Terry for more info.
SOLARO is study help and exam prep for grades 3-12 for Alberta. It has all grades and all subjects. WISDOM students can have access to 10 subjects at a time.
Click here for more information and to order.
Student & Parent / Teacher ID – WISDOM offers this resource for free to our families. There is a digital and paper version. Email Jennifer for more information.
SuccessMaker - for Grades K-8 reading and math. It does it all to make every student more successful. This is “true” adaptive learning for intervention, differentiation, and personalization. Every student interaction adjusts instruction in real time to real learning needs. SuccessMaker® delivers tutorials, practice, challenge, and remediation. WISDOM price: $75 per student. Order in our online shop.
Terry’s TLC Newsletter has a variety of links and monthly offers for WISDOM Families. It includes WISDOM Mail Exchange Updates, Current Draw information for WISDOM parents and students, the best educational links of the month and more. For more information, email Terry.
WISDOM Game Day Events - WISDOM is pleased to offer a virtual opportunity for children, teens and parents to gather together online to play board- and card-games. As always, parents need to supervise their children when they are online. For more information, see the WISDOM Website under Events.
WISDOM Kindergarten Connections is a brand new short monthly email for any WISDOM parent who has a child in Preschool or Kindergarten. It will have easy learning tips, giveaways and contests, Busy Bag ideas, as well as links of encouragement, ideas and support. For more information, email Terry.
WISDOM’s eNewsletter goes out to WISDOM Families once a month or more with current information on events, deadlines or other offerings. Not sure you’re getting them? Check your Spam folder, first, and search your email for anything from office@wisdomhomeschooling.com or tobylauren@wisdomhomeschooling.com. If you are not receiving the emails, email the Office and ask to be added to the eNewsletter list.
WISDOM Events (workshops and gatherings) are an important part of the WISDOM experience for their families. You can register on the WISDOM website or email Marlane for more info.
WISDOM Mail Exchange Events. WISDOM is hosting numerous mail exchanges between WISDOM students and parents – most are for the cost of a postage stamp. Some of the exchanges have been Happy Mail Exchanges, Recipe Exchanges, a Bookmark Exchange, a Seed Packet exchange and more. It is a great way to make connections between students and families! Email Terry for more information.
Study Prep & Evaluation
Canadian Test of Basic Skills - Revised (CTBS-R) measures student achievement and growth in general subject areas for Grades 1 through 12. Results offer grade-level average, national percentile and stanine. WISDOM offers this resource for families for $10 fee. You may order it every year or as desired. Contact Peter for more information.
The Classic Learning Test (CLT) is a post-secondary entrance exam, created as an alternative to the SAT. In addition, there is a CLT 8 for students in grade 8 or 9, and the CLT 10 for students in grades 10 or 11. These tests focus on numeracy and literacy, and are a useful evaluation tool which can be conveniently accessed from home. The CLT is accepted as a high school completion exam for entrance to a number of universities and colleges, many of whom offer scholarships to these students. WISDOM families receive a discount on all CLTs. Find out more here and view test dates and register for CLT tests here.
ExamBank.com is a resource for Alberta students in all grades. It offers online study resources and practice exams related directly to the Alberta curriculum. Call or email the Office to receive a username and password.
QuestA+ is an online access point for provincial assessment. It has access to field tests, diploma exams, provincial achievement tests and other secure assessment. Any WISDOM parent can access it.
Key Study Guide and SNAP Booklets (through Castlerock) are Alberta curriculum-specific resources that helps students prepare for their school tests, final exams, and standardized assessments.
THE KEY is comprised of three main components: Unit Review, Unit Test, and Exam Preparation.
SNAP Workbooks provide complete explanations of curriculum concepts. Examples are designed to take students from guided learning to independent practice. Parents can assign the even-numbered problems for each topic as additional homework as their answers and solutions are not included in the SNAP Workbook.
WISDOM Parents can order each booklet for each subject for a discounted price of $25 each. Castle Rock has made a custom WISDOM order page for their resources.
- Open the order form: Order Here
- Input the amount of each resource you want
- Hit the checkout button at the bottom
- At checkout, fill out the information. In the PO Number: box, follow instructions below:
- For a WISDOM PO Number: Put “WISDOM” to use a funding purchase order (if funding is available)
- Put “Bill To Family” to be billed by them (you’ll be able to submit your receipt for reimbursement)
- Double check all information is correct
- Hit the submit button and the order is now placed!
Email Christian for more information.
The F.O.R.M. Curriculum is a fitness curriculum for teaching students how to build a solid foundation in health.
Functional Fitness
Optimal Nourishment
Rest and Recovery
Multiplied Maintenance
Are you aware of another resource that is missing from this list?
Please email Terry or give us a call.
Our office is usually open Monday through Friday, from 9am-noon and 1-4pm.
Chat: during office hours, click the chat button in the lower-left corner to talk with us. If no one is available, you can leave a message and we'll follow up as soon as we can.
Phone: 780-741-2113 or toll-free 1-877-425-8546
Email: office@wisdomhomeschooling.com
Family Funding department: finance@wisdomhomeschooling.com
Mail:
Box 78
Derwent, AB
T0B 1C0
We are also on Facebook, Instagram and X - join us!
For contact information for specific members of the team, go to their bios:
Alberta Education Resources: